Honda Civic Type R Smashes Silverstone FWD Lap Record

And it probably won’t be the last FWD record Honda sets this year either.

The Honda Civic Type R just keeps on smashing FWD lap records. As part of Honda’s Type R Challenge 2018 campaign, the hatchback has already set the fastest front-wheel drive lap time at Magny-Cours in France and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. And now it’s claimed yet another record, this time at the Silverstone circuit. Three-time British Touring Car Champion Matt Neal drove the hot hatch around the 3.65-mile British circuit in just two minutes and 31.32 seconds.

That time beat the previous front-wheel drive record set at Silverstone by the previous-generation Type R in 2016 by around half a second. “Where I found the real advantage of the Type R was really in the high-speed corners – the stability which is a combination of the aero and the new advanced suspension system,” said Neal. “Into corners like Copse and Stowe at the end of the Hangar straight, you can carry big entry speed with supreme confidence.” The Civic Type R also currently holds the record for the fastest front-wheel drive production car to lap the Nurburgring having completed the challenging circuit in seven minutes and 43.8 seconds, beating the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S.

Honda isn’t stopping there either, as the automaker is on a quest to prove the Type R is the fastest hot hatch on the market and smash even more records. In the coming months, Honda will attempt to beat its previous lap records at Estoril and the Hungaroring with multiple World Touring Car race-winner Tiago Monteiro and former F1 champion Jenson Button behind the wheel. “There isn’t just one point that makes this Type R the best in its class – it’s across the board,” Neil added. “It’s a completely new platform from its predecessors from the ground up."

Honda have scrutinized and improved every area from the stability of the handling with the multi-link suspension, the aero, the center of gravity which is lower, it’s wider, it’s longer, the feedback the driver gets through the steering, the power delivery of the engine – it’s a step forward in every direction.”